


All I Can Taste

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Hugging, Multi, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, New Years, Polyamory, Protect Tony Stark 2k16, Team as Family, Tony is loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 20:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9141067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Tony thought he'd be spending New Year's Eve alone.He was wrong.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I asked on tumblr whether people would prefer Tony/Steve, Tony/Bucky or Tony/T'Challa for a crappy NYE fic. Some people asked for all of the above. I'm not even sure if I should post it since I have a cold and I'm exhausted and I'm pretty sure it sucks, but I really wanted to get something up tonight.
> 
> Happy New Years. Here's hoping 2017 is far kinder.

Everything was ready. There was enough food to please Clint and Thor and enough alcohol to make Natasha happy. There was a list of terrible movies and a list of excellent movies, depending on the taste of those watching (meaning that half the night would be spent watching Steve, Darcy, Clint and Bucky bicker over what qualified as a good movie, while Sam laughed his ass off at the four of them and Jane increasingly lost the ability to hide her amusement the drunker she got). There were crackers on the table ready to be pulled apart, and a fireworks display set to go off at midnight that had cost about a hundred thousand dollars.

It was, in short, the best celebration that Tony could think of, and he'd spent weeks putting it all together.

Too bad he'd be celebrating alone.

Well, not completely alone, he amended silently, turning his head at the feel of whiskers against his cheek. Salt purred when she realized she'd caught his attention, insistently butting her head against Tony's face again. Tony had to smile, lifting a hand to scratch her ears. The sound of her purr grew louder, rumbling like a miniature engine, and she licked his nose several times. Her little tongue was rough like sandpaper, but the kisses were still enough to make Tony smile's widen.

"I bet you miss T'Challa too," he said with a sigh, sitting up and pulling her into his lap. He winced when she dug her claws into his thighs in retaliation, but the pain only lasted long enough for Salt to make herself comfortable. Then she released her claws and began to wash her tail.

That was the problem with making surprise plans when you were in a relationship with a King and two supersoldiers: sometimes, other plans prevailed. As it stood now, Steve and Natasha had been summoned for an urgent SHIELD mission at just after midnight on December 26th. No one had seen them since, but apparently the mission was not going well since Clint and Bucky had been called out two days later to provide additional support. Tony had tried to hack the SHIELD servers to figure out where they all were, but Fury had caught on to the fact that there was no firewall Tony couldn't get through and started using paper files.

Paper. Honestly. What was this, the stone age?

Tony had thought that he'd still have T'Challa to celebrate New Year's Eve with, but even that didn't end up working out. Shuri had placed an emergency call two days ago and T'Challa had departed immediately; apparently there was some big issue with one of Wakanda's major trade partners, and only T'Challa was capable of dealing with the issue.

All of that left meant that the only Avengers left in the city were Sam, who had plans, and Thor, who was out rocking the town with Jane. Bruce had muttered something about not liking the parties in the city and quietly left the building three days ago. Rhodey and Pepper had snuck away on a private trip shortly after Christmas, and Tony knew better than to call them (mostly because Pepper had very clearly laid out that the world had better be on fire before anyone, Tony included, interrupted their trip. Between Pepper's work as a CEO and Rhodey's responsibilities with the military, they didn't get the chance to spend much time together.), which meant that he was spending New Years Eve with only Salt for company.

He stroked his hand down Salt's back and sighed again, looking out the window. This would've been their first New Years together. Him, Bucky, Steve and T'Challa. It had been a rocky year full of ups and downs, but they were finally starting to get things worked out. Their relationship was entering smoother waters. And Tony had been foolish enough to think they could have this one little celebration together.

"I'm an idiot," he grumbled to Salt, curling up around her. He could've gone out, of course. There were dozens of parties where he would've been welcomed. But he just didn't feel like being that version of Tony Stark right now. Instead, he closed his eyes. He'd go to sleep and let the rest of New York enjoy the fireworks. When he woke up, maybe at least Bucky or Steve would be home.

The faint sound of voices talking and explosions woke him some time later. Tony made a face - only Clint had such lame tastes in movies - and wondered why JARVIS had turned the movie on. Then he realized that someone was curled up around him. Since Salt was still in his lap, there could only be one person who was hugging him so tightly: Salt didn't like anyone except for Tony, T'Challa and Pepper, who had been the one to give Tony the kitten in the first place. Since there weren't any breasts pressing into his back...

Tony made a confused sound and lifted his head. "Kitty cat?" he mumbled.

"Hello, Tony," T'Challa murmured in his ear.

"What are you doing here?" Tony blinked, looking around the room. Maybe he was still dreaming. There was no other explanation for how the room had magically filled with the other Avengers, even Bucky and Steve. But then again, his dreams had never involved Natasha having her arm in a sling, or Clint having two black eyes and a bandage across the left side of his face. Clearly, the mission had been as rough as Tony feared.

"It's New Year's Eve. We wanted to spend it with you," T'Challa said.

"But you were busy," Tony said, still confused.

"We're never too busy for you," Steve said. Like magic, he appeared right in front of Tony and, after a moment of eyeing Salt warily, carefully bent down to kiss him in greeting. Tony kissed back automatically, tasting the cinnamon-flavored toothpaste Steve favored because he didn't care for mint. 

"The mission?" he mumbled against Steve's lips. Salt gave a disgruntled huff and leapt down from Tony's lap, stalking away. Steve took the opportunity to get a little closer.

"Clint pointed out that it was New Year's Eve," he replied, nuzzling his cheek against Tony's. "He broke out the explosives to get the job done fast."

"Ugh," Tony complained, pulling back. "That means Fury's going to call and yell at me tomorrow."

"Do you care?" T'Challa asked.

"Not really," Tony admitted. He made grabby hands at Bucky, who said something else to Thor and then headed in their direction. He knelt, one knee on the couch, and kissed Tony in greeting, then squirmed his way into between Tony and T'Challa. He was shaking, fine tremors running through his muscles, and he only calmed when T'Challa's hands were on him. The mission must have been bad. Tony cast Steve a worried look, but Steve shook his head.

"It's okay," he said. "It was just - we weren't expecting it to be Hydra."

The worst kind of surprise, in other words. Tony fumbled a hand back until he could pat Bucky's side, then allowed Steve to haul him off the couch. Leaving T'Challa and Bucky piled together, he followed Steve over to where the food was splayed out. Unlike the gorgeous spread that had been there when Tony fell asleep, the table now looked like it had been ravaged by beasts. And in a way, if you considered a god, two supersoldiers, and an archer that tried to put them all to shame to be beasts, then it had been.

"Thanks for the spread, Stark," Clint chirped in between handfuls of cheetos.

"The finest food you can get in New York is right in front of you and you're eating cheesies. While drinking $400 champagne," Tony said.

Clint shrugged. "You have your victories, I have mine."

"Just don't get orange dust everywhere."

"You missed my orange fingers and you know it," 

"That's what you think," Tony grumbled, crossing his arm. Steve, grinning, wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I think that there's only ten minutes until midnight," Natasha said. "And I do not want my kiss to be filled with the taste of cheetos. Go brush your teeth."

"You wound me," Clint said dramatically, but Tony noticed that he set down the glass of champagne and went to do as Natasha had asked.

"I guess everyone made it after all," Tony said, glancing around the room. Thor, Jane and Darcy were clustered in front of the television - which meant that actually, it was Darcy's supremely shitty movie they were watching. Bruce was sitting in the chair beside them, peacefully curled up with a book. He raised a hand in greeting when he noticed Tony watching him. Tony raised a questioning eyebrow; Bruce shrugged and gestured somewhat helplessly to Darcy. Noticing the attention, Darcy smiled smugly and sat down in Bruce's lap. Tony had to bite back a laugh at the look on Bruce's face.

Even Sam had returned, arm draped around the shoulders of a gorgeous, leggy brunette out on the balcony. Salt was winding her way around the brunette's legs, which meant that Tony approved of whoever it was already. It seemed like only Pepper and Rhodey hadn't come back, and Tony didn't blame them for that at all. If anything, he would've been pissed if the two of them had returned.

"We all wanted to ring in the new year at home," Steve murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of Tony's head.

"You're such a sap, Rogers."

"Maybe," Steve said with a shrug. "But that's what you love about me."

Tony couldn't argue with that. It was true. He stuck by Steve's side while Steve assembled two enormous sandwiches, and then they made their way back to the couch. By that time, Bucky was sitting upright and was alert enough to grab one of the sandwiches that Steve had made. The couch was just big enough to accommodate the four of them if Tony sat in Bucky's lap, which he was used to by this point. He'd long ago come to terms with the fact that if T'Challa, Bucky or Steve was within arm's reach, they'd be hugging or cuddling him. It seemed like a compulsion at this rate.

"One more minute," he announced, keeping an eye on the clock. He edged out of Bucky's lap and perched on the very edge of the couch, asking with a grin, "Who's going to kiss me at midnight?"

Dead silence. Steve, Bucky and T'Challa all stared at each other.

"I am," Bucky said finally.

"No, I am," Steve said.

"I got here first, so I think it should be me," T'Challa said.

Tony couldn't help laughing. Thirty seconds. "I'm not the only person in this relationship, you know."

"But you're the one we all came back for," Bucky said, like that wasn't one of the sweetest things he'd said all year. Tony might have blushed.

The clock was ticking down. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony spotted Jane and Thor turning toward each other. Darcy had jumped the gun by lifting herself up onto her knees and and pulling Bruce into the kind of steamy kiss normally reserved for R-rated movies - interestingly enough, it didn't look like Bruce was fighting it very hard. He could see Natasha laying her head on Clint's shoulder, and Sam and his date exchanging quick pecks.

It happened so quickly that Tony could barely keep track of what happened. All three of his boyfriends tried to move towards him all at once as the clock struck midnight and the fireworks started going off right outside the window. At the same time, Salt leapt up on his lap and kissed Tony on the nose. Steve and Bucky halted their movement immediately, which meant that T'Challa banged roughly into Bucky and the two of them nearly fell off the couch. Tony, who'd brought his hands up automatically to grab Salt, burst out laughing again.

Steve sighed, looking put-out. "Well that didn't go the way I planned."

"I fucking hate that cat," Bucky said to no one in particular.

"We're supposed to be comrades," T'Challa said in a wounded tone, gazing up at Salt.

She just sniffed at him and licked Tony's nose again for good measure. Tony scratched her ears again in thanks and then, just to soothe their collectively wounded pride, had to give each of his boyfriends their own special, private kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
